OptoNet - Photonics Network Thuringia

A powerful network

STRONG PARTNERS in a STRONG ALLIANCE - OptoNet represents the leading players of Photonics in Jena region, creates a communication and cooperation platform, strengthens the international visibility of the cluster, initiates activities for talent promotion and is committed to marketing of the Photonics region.

100 active members › 15 years of successful networking › 1 vision for a brighter future

LOCATION

Thuringia is internationally renowned as a centre for optics and photonics. Global players such as ZEISS, JENOPTIK and SCHOTT, as well as famous research institutions have their headquarters here. About 175 regional companies and 1.300 scientists are working on individual solutions for demanding applications in the field of optics. more facts & figures »

Members

Around 175 companies and numerous research institutions of international repute cover a wide spectrum of photonic technology and have a profound expertise in research, manufacturing, and services. Their products and services play a leading and decisive role on the world market.

International projects

2016 means a new era in OptoNet's international engagement. In the context of a new project, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, OptoNet is ready to take a new level of global cooperation. Read more »

Management

The OptoNet office is situated in the heart of Jena, in the JENTOWER.Six employees are committed to member support, project management, talent promotion and technology marketing. The current president is Dr. Torsten Poßner.

NEWS & DOWNLOADS

› Facts & Figures

› PRESS

New York Times: Germany's Export-Led Economy finds global nicheJena is booming these days, as local companies like Jenoptik, which makes lasers and sensors, rack up orders from China, Russia, Europe and the United States. Even the surging euro, which is near record levels against the dollar and the yen — making German exports more expensive in many foreign markets — has not yet dented demand.

DER SPIEGEL:Jena is the Munich of Eastern GermanyDresden is booming and so is Leipzig -- but the overall economic situation in the former East Germany is pretty dismal, according to the Prognos Future Atlas 2007, a competitiveness index of German cities and districts.

DER SPIEGEL: A Revolution in Images: How Insect-Eyed Cameras Could Change Our LivesNew cameras with hundreds of tiny lenses have recently been overcoming obstacles that have frustrated shutterbugs since the dawn of photography. German researchers are now working to find new applications that could make these mini-cameras an almost omnipresent part of our lives.